Sanskrit
पिताऽहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः । वेद्यं पवित्रमोङ्कार ऋक् साम यजुरेव च ॥
pitāham asya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ vedyaṃ pavitram oṅkāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca
Translation
I the Father of this universe, the Mother, the Supporter, the Grandsire, the Holy one to be known, the Word of Power, and also the Rik, Sâma, and Yajur,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Continues the identification of verse 16 into cosmogonic and scriptural roles — father, mother, the sacred syllable Om, the three Vedas. The list format itself, a chain of bare nominal predicates with no connecting verbs, is characteristic of this whole section and recurs even more densely in verse 18. Oṅkāra and the three Vedas placed in the same breath as mātā, pitā — Krishna is both the origin of beings and the substance of scripture. The syllable Oṃ recurs as the sonic form of Brahman at BG 8.13 and BG 17.24.
Study deeper
Word by word
- pitāham asya jagatoपिताहं अस्य जगतो
- I am the father of this world (pitā + aham + asya + jagataḥ)
- mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥमाता धाता पितामहः
- the mother, the sustainer, the grandsire (mātā + dhātā + pitāmahaḥ)
- vedyaṃ pavitram oṅkāraवेद्यं पवित्रं ओङ्कार
- the knowable, the purifier, the syllable Oṃ (vedyam + pavitram + oṅkāraḥ)
- ṛk sāma yajur eva caऋक् साम यजुः एव च
- the Ṛk, the Sāma, and the Yajur (ṛk + sāma + yajuḥ + eva + ca)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Father and mother arrive in the same breath — pitā, mātā — with no hierarchy between them and no discomfort at holding what the culture elsewhere treats as separate, gendered roles. The ultimate reality this verse describes doesn’t resolve into one side of that pair; it claims both at once, as casually as it claims to be a grammatical case-ending or a Vedic hymn a few words later.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- You don't have to fit the traits you carry into one side of a rigid pair — strength and softness, discipline and tenderness — a whole person, like the reality this verse describes, can hold both without needing to resolve into one category.
Professional
- A good leader doesn't have to choose between being the demanding one and the supportive one — holding both roles in the same relationship with your team, without treating them as contradictory, is more realistic than forcing yourself into a single leadership archetype.
Family & Social
- Within one relationship you can be both the firm one and the gentle one depending on what's needed — refusing to lock yourself into a single fixed role for someone you love leaves room to actually respond to what they need in the moment.
Ask yourself
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